Greg Clarke accuses Sam Allardyce of "letting us down badly" but defends reported £1m pay-off and the Football Association's due diligence

I am Sports Editor at City A.M. I have previously worked for the Telegraph specialising in football; now I cover all sports but am particularly interested in football, tennis and golf. Get in touch if you have a story that we might be interested in.

Follow Frank

Allardyce left his job last week after just 67 days in charge of England (Source: Getty)

Frank Dalleres

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke says Sam Allardyce “let us down badly” during his 67-day England reign but defended the decision to pay the manager a settlement reported to run to seven figures.

In an appearance before the House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Monday, Clarke also insisted that the FA had done sufficient due diligence before appointing Allardyce in the summer.

Clarke, who only took up his job in August, said it had been agreed within the FA that Allardyce’s tenure would be ended abruptly because he was “in breach of his duties”.

He also questioned the wisdom of Allardyce’s apparent willingness just weeks into the job to strike a £400,000 keynote speaking deal with representatives of an Asian company who later transpired to be reporters.

“I think he let us down badly because in the end we want a manage whose sole responsibility is to win games for England,” said Clarke. “So his contract was terminated by mutual consent.”

He added: “Any right-thinking person would rather spend money on grassroots facilities but we will always obey the law.”

MPs quizzed ex-Football League and Cable and Wireless chief Clarke on the background checks done before hiring Allardyce, whose conduct in transfer dealings was questioned by a BBC Panorama programme in 2006. He has strongly denied the allegations.

“I wasn’t there because I have only been in this post for five weeks but I am assured by board members that they did do due diligence on Mr Allardyce,” Clarke said.

“Significant inquiries were made. We spoke to his former clubs and the League Managers Association. No issues were raised.”